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United States Patent | 6,042,957 |
Oltman | March 28, 2000 |
This invention pertains to alkaline electrochemical cells, typically to metal-air cells of the button-type. Non-reactive elements of cells of the invention are thinner than corresponding non-reactive elements of prior art cells. Such elements can be made thinner because of improved structures of such elements. The anode can is made from a metal strip structure having a higher steel content. The cathode can has a modified temper, which improves relative stiffness and rigidity while retaining sufficient ductility. By so reducing the thicknesses of non-reactive elements of the cell, and thus the volume occupied by such non-reactive elements, the fraction of the cell devoted to holding electrochemically reactive anode material therein is increased, with corresponding increase in the milliampere hour capacity of the cell.
Inventors: | Oltman; John Edward (Mount Horeb, WI) |
Assignee: | Rayovac Corporation (Madison, WI) |
Appl. No.: | 089086 |
Filed: | June 2, 1998 |
Current U.S. Class: | 429/27; 429/162; 429/164; 429/171 |
Intern'l Class: | H01M 004/00; H01M 006/12; H01M 002/02 |
Field of Search: | 429/163-169,171,176,185,223,27,162,206,170 |
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TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Property Inv. Ex #1 C Ex 1 ______________________________________ Temper Number 3.5 4 Grain Size, ASTM E112-88 7-12 9-12 Yield Strength 45-52 ksi 32-45 ksi Elongation, Min, 80-100 mm width 25% 35% Hardness 76-82 77-82 Erichsen Ductility ASTM E643-84 .gtoreq.7.5 mm .gtoreq.9.5 mm ______________________________________
TABLE 2 __________________________________________________________________________ SIZE PR44 Data Measured Ex 2 Ex. 3 C Ex 4 C Ex 5 C Ex 6 C Ex 7 C Ex 8 __________________________________________________________________________ Overall Height* .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 Overall Dia*1 .4550 .4550 .4550 .4550 .4550 .4550 .4550 Overall Vol** .5515 .5515 .5515 .5515 .5515 .5515 .5515 Anode Top*2 .0050 .0075 .0100 .0102 .0075 .0100 .0088 Anode Sidewall*2 .0050 .0075 .0100 .0100 .0093 .0235 .0088 Seal Sidewall*2 .0040 .0100 .0105 .0108 .0085 .0092 .0121 Cathode Can*2 .0047 .0065 .0080 .0100 .0070 .0087 .0104 Seal Foot*2 .0270 .0287 .0305 .0383 .0285 .0429 .0376 Cathode*2 .0100 .0126 .0142 .0152 .0171 .0169 .0264 To 1st Radius*3 .1395 .1373 .1395 .1238 .0965 .1529 .1277 Anode Top*1 .2870 .2851 .2780 .3005 .2812 .2774 .3070 Anode Volume** .3915 .3456 .3177 .3039 .3102 .3106 .2875 Vol Efficiency 71% 63% 58% 55% 56% 56% 52% __________________________________________________________________________ SIZE PR48 Data Measured Ex 9 Ex 10 C Ex 11 C Ex 12 C Ex 13 C Ex 14 C Ex 15 __________________________________________________________________________ Overall Height* .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 .2070 Overall Dia*1 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 Overall Vol** .2478 .2478 .2478 .2478 .2478 .2478 .2478 Anode Top*2 .0050 .0060 .0080 .0097 .0069 .0073 .0061 Anode Sidewall*2 .0050 .0060 .0080 .0107 .0082 .0134 .0126 Seal Sidewall*2 .0040 .0078 .0090 .0062 .0082 .0081 .0129 Cathode Can*2 .0047 .0080 .0080 .0094 .0068 .0077 .0076 Seal Foot*2 .0240 .0263 .0291 .0317 .0289 .0376 .0238 Cathode*2 .0100 .0142 .0157 .0264 .0247 .0219 .0230 To 1st Radius*3 .1273 .1221 .1273 .1292 .1146 .1462 .1499 Anode Top*1 .1740 .1740 .1608 .1782 .1560 .1798 .1826 Anode Volume** .1586 .1344 .1235 .1157 .1180 .1278 .1239 Vol Efficiency 64% 54% 50% 47% 48% 52% 50% __________________________________________________________________________ SIZE PR41 Data Measured Ex 16 Ex 17 C Ex 18 C Ex 19 C Ex 20 C Ex 21 C Ex 22 __________________________________________________________________________ Overall Height* .1350 .1350 .1350 .1350 .1350 .1350 .1350 Overall Dia*1 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 .3050 Overall Vol** .1616 .1616 .1616 .1616 .1616 .1616 .1616 Anode Top*2 .0050 .0061 .0080 .0076 .0068 .0058 .0058 Anode Sidewall*2 .0050 .0061 .0080 .0173 .0143 .0108 .0129 Seal Sidewall*2 .0040 .0067 .0093 .0083 .0085 .0079 .0095 Cathode Can*2 .0047 .0080 .0080 .0099 .0065 .0075 .0081 Seal Foot*2 .0233 .0209 .0227 .0379 .0312 .0294 .0217 Cathode*2 .0100 .0118 .0123 .0258 .0233 .0221 .0250 To 1st Radius*3 .0597 .0597 .0542 .0791 .0663 .0804 .0818 Anode Top*1 .1700 .1746 .4738 .1717 .1582 .1763 .1548 Anode Volume** .0887 .0785 .0718 .0611 .0647 .0721 .0680 Vol Efficiency 55% 49% 44% 38% 40% 45% 42% __________________________________________________________________________ SIZE PR70 Data Measured Ex 23 Ex 24 C Ex 25 C Ex 26 __________________________________________________________________________ Overall Height* .1350 .1350 .1350 .1350 Overall Dia*1 .2280 .2280 .2280 .2280 Overall Vol** .0903 .0903 .0903 .0903 Anode Top*2 .0050 .0060 .0060 .0080 Anode Sidewall*2 .0050 .0060 .0060 .0080 Seal Sidewall*2 .0040 .0063 .0113 .0101 Cathode Can*2 .0047 .0060 .0080 .0083 Seal Foot*2 .0233 .0246 .0266 .0264 Cathode*2 .0100 .0100 .0100 .0258 To 1st Radius*3 .0723 .0752 .0752 .0641 Anode Top*1 .1250 .1151 .1151 .1186 Anode Volume** .0506 .0436 .0377 .0331 Vol Efficiency 56% 48% 42% 37% __________________________________________________________________________ * = Dimension in Inches ** = Dimension in Cubic Centimeters 1 = Diameter 2 = Thickness 3 = Height
TABLE 3 ______________________________________ Equation Valued PR44 PR48 PR41 PR70 ______________________________________ .77 + Log.sup.10 (Overall Volume)*.20 .7184 .6489 .6119 .5608 .80 + Log.sup.10 (Overall Volume)*.281 .7275 .6298 .5779 .5061 .77 + Log.sup.10 (Overall Volume)*.28 .6977 .6004 .5487 .4772 .69 + Log.sup.10 (Overall Volume)*.22 .6332 .5568 .5161 .4599 .65 + Log.sup.10 (Overall Volume)*.20 .5984 .5289 .4919 .4408 ______________________________________